From the Bottom of My Broken Heart
"From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears, taken from her debut studio album, ...Baby One More Time (1999). It was released on December 15, 1999, by Jive Records as the fifth and final single from the album. The teen pop ballad was written and produced by White, and features Spears singing about the loss of a first love and how breaking up can be hard. 'More Information' |-|Background= In June 1997, Spears was in talks with manager Lou Pearlman to join female pop group Innosense. Lynne asked family friend and entertainment lawyer Larry Rudolph for his opinion and submitted a tape of Spears singing over a Whitney Houston karaoke song along with some pictures. Rudolph decided he wanted to pitch her to record labels, therefore she needed a professional demo. He sent Spears an unused song from Toni Braxton; she rehearsed for a week and recorded her vocals in a studio with a sound engineer. Spears traveled to New York with the demo and met with executives from four labels, returning to Kentwood the same day. Three of the labels rejected her, arguing audiences wanted pop bands such as the Backstreet Boys and the Spice Girls, and "there wasn't going to be another Madonna, another Debbie Gibson, or another Tiffany." Two weeks later, executives from Jive Records returned calls to Rudolph. Senior vice president of A&R Jeff Fenster stated about Spears's audition that "It's very rare to hear someone that age who can deliver emotional content and commercial appeal. ... For any artist, the motivation—the 'eye of the tiger'— is extremely important. And Britney had that." They appointed her to work with producer Eric Foster White for a month, who reportedly shaped her voice from "lower and less poppy" delivery to "distinctively, unmistakably Britney." After hearing the recorded material, president Clive Calder ordered a full album. "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" was written by Eric Foster White, for Spears' debut studio album, ...Baby One More Time (1999). Spears recorded the vocals for the song in 1997 at 4MW East Studios in New Jersey and at Battery Studios in New York City, New York. Dan Petty played the guitar, while the bass guitar was done by Andy Hess. The song was later mixed by White and Chris Trevett, while background vocals were provided by Spears, Angie Simmons, Don Philip and Andrew Fromm. It was released on December 15, 1999 as the final single from ...Baby One More Time. |-|Reception= "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" received mixed to positive reviews from music critics. Amanda Murray of Sputnikmusic considered the song a competent, but unremarkable single. Kyle Anderson of MTV criticized its lyrics, deeming it as "another rejection ballad that references kissing but nothing else." Caryn Ganz of Rolling Stone called "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" a "further hit" from ...Baby One More Time, along with "Sometimes" and "(You Drive Me) Crazy". The song was a Track Pick from the Allmusic review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, who praised it along with the other singles from the album, saying, "...Baby One More Time has its share of well-crafted filler, but the singles, combined with Britney's burgeoning charisma, make this a pretty great piece of fluff". Author David Gauntlett considered its lyrics as "slushy", and noticed that the track was "seen as less interesting and relevant the fans, although they clearly enjoyed song too." Billboard critic Chuck Taylor praised the song, and did a further review on his column: "Eighteen-year-old Britney Spears, 1999's biggest-selling new artist, spreads it out like soft cream cheese on her fourth-to-be runaway smash single, as dreamy and freash as that first spin of "...Baby One More Time" over a year ago. It's her first ballad, following that No. 1 debut as well as "Sometimes" and the recented "(You Drive Me) Crazy", yet "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" still possesses a breezy air that is certain to continue her breakneck success on the singles charts. Eric Forster White is at the helm this time, writing and producing a song that will easily appeal to Miss Spears' young core, with the potential to chart the more mature AC audience, too. ... Spears' star is shining brighter than ever, and this wholesome track will only serve to illuminate it all the more. An ace." On the chart issue dated February 19, 2000, "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" debuted at number 52 on United States' Billboard Hot 100. The following issue, the song peaked at number 14, after selling 78,000 physical units of the single, and became the Greatest Gainer/Sales title of that week. The song also went from number 73 to number 3 on the Hot Singles Sales chart, before peaking at number 2 on the chart issue dated March 5, 2000. "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" also appeared on several Billboard component charts, peaking at number 24 on Top 40 Tracks, number 17 on Pop Songs, and number 53 on Radio Songs. On March 28, 2000, "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipping 1,000,000 physical units of the single in the country. By the end of 2000, the song peaked at number seventy-seven on Billboard Hot 100 Year-End chart. "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" was the 8th best selling single of the 2000s, according to Nielsen SoundScan. As of June 2012, "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" has sold 778,000 physical singles, with 33,000 paid digital downloads in the United States. It is Spears' second best-selling physical single in the country. In Australia, "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" entered the ARIA chart at number 47, before peaking at number 37 on the following issue. The song stayed a total of five weeks on the chart. It performed better in New Zealand, where it peaked at number 23. Through imports, "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" did manage to peak at number 174 in the United Kingdom, while in Canada, after staying for five weeks on the RPM Singles Chart, the song peaked at number 25on the dated week of February 28, 2000 |-|Music Video= Jive Records commissioned a music video for the song to be directed by Gregory Dark. According to Dark, the label hired him with the intention of re-image Spears from the naughty schoolgirl persona of "...Baby One More Time", and stated that they "wanted a much more story-oriented video without dance, one that was serious and emotional." He further stated that, during the filming, "I'd joke with her so that she would loosen up and feel comfortable acting, as opposed to being Britney Spears at that moment." The video was produced by the FM Rocks Production Company. The music video portrays Spears is packing up her belongings, as she readies herself to move away from home, and feeling upset because she knows that she is going to miss her first love. Throughout the video, scenes of the couple's past are also seen, including one where they climb up onto a windmill, with Spears singing the song. Before the end of the video, Spears is waiting at a bus stop while, at the same time, her first love is driving to come see her one last time. However, by the time he finally gets there, Spears had left him behind and taken the bus. According to writer Linda Ruth Williams, the music video attracted attention from the press because of "the clash between Spears' wholesome image and Dark's unwholesome back catalogue." A Spears representative spoke to the Sunday Sport and revealed, "as far as I'm aware the director just does music videos. This is a video for young teenage girls and not sexy at all." Dark responded to the negative reviews saying, "I don't deny that I did films, it's just that I also like people to know that I don't currently and haven't in a long time." Billboard reporter Carla Hay also noted, "I don't think people who buy records are too concerned about the background of the video's director." Lucy O'Brien, author of She Bop II: The Definitive History of Women in Rock, Pop and Soul, noted that hiring Dark as the video director implied that Spears was not that innocent. Time journalists Briton Hadden and Henry Robinson Luce said that Spears "may be the queen of pop tartiness, but her new video, 'From the Bottom of My Broken Heart', is an entirely wholesome affair," while Chris Ryan of MTV considered it "a suitably soft-focus affair". The video was also added to MTV's 2000 Yearbook, a list with the "biggest, best, most memorable music videos of every year since the beginning of MTV." Alec Hanley Bemis of LA Weekly highly criticized Spears and the music video. He thought that the singer's "lack of musical talent" had begun to affect her career, after Dark was selected as the director of the video. Bemis commented, however, that Spears' already had "a history of questionable decisions", and cited her Rolling Stone photoshoot done in early 1999, which was condemned by the American Family Association, as an example. He continued to state that the plotline setted the singer "on the fast track to adulthood" and questioned, "who's in bed with Britney now? While a TV tabloid recently reported that an old bayou beau in Louisiana has mother Spears’ approval, fantasizing fans want to believe Britney‘s dallying with that braided moppet from N’Sync or a member of the Backstreet Boys. But the only verifiable fact we have to work with is that Spears has started running with a darker L.A. crowd." Bemis finished his review saying that "no avant-garde film techniques used on it. But Britney's lips glisten so... Speaking frankly, this light in our lives hurts us, from the fire in our loins to the bottom of our broken hearts." |-|Lyrics= "Never look back," we said How was I to know I'd miss you so? Loneliness up ahead, emptiness behind Where do I go? And you didn't hear All my joy through my tears All my hopes through my fears Did you know, still I miss you somehow CHORUS: From the bottom of my broken heart There's just a thing or two I'd like you to know You were my first love, you were my true love From the first kisses to the very last rose From the bottom of my broken heart Even though time may find me somebody new You were my real love, I never knew love 'Til there was you From the bottom of my broken heart "Baby," I said, "please stay. Give our love a chance for one more day" We could have worked things out Taking time is what love's all about But you put a dart Through my dreams through my heart And I'm back where I started again Never thought it would end CHORUS You promised yourself But to somebody else And you made it so perfectly clear Still I wish you were here CHORUS "Never look back," we said How was I to know I'd miss you so? 'Credits' Credits for "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" are adapted from ...Baby One More Time's liner notes. *Britney Spears - lead vocals *Eric Foster White – audio mixing, producer, songwriting *Chris Trevett – audio mixing *Dan Petty – guitar *Andy Hess – bass guitar, bass, guitar Category:Singles Category:Singles from ...Baby One More Time